Monday, March 9, 2009

Indian Yummies!

Good Indian food pushed me into vegetarianism back in 1994, and I've had a soft spot for the stuff ever since. I was 13 years old at the time, and I spent a week of summer vacation visiting my Indian friend Purvi's house in Oklahoma. Purvi was vegetarian, as were her mother and siblings (only her dad ate meat). For that week, I ate nothing but awesome home-cooked Indian food (and I believe we also ate some mac & cheese and grilled cheeses).

When my parents picked me up from Purvi's house (after their eight hour drive from Arkansas), I announced that I was going vegetarian. Or at least semi-vegetarian. I continued to eat poultry for a few more months until totally giving that up on the day after Thanksgiving in 1994. I switched to veganism in 2004.

All that being said, I've been downing some major Indian food lately. I attacked the all-veg buffet (only one item wasn't vegan!) at the new Woodlands Vegetarian Indian Cuisine in Memphis this past Saturday. And tonight, I whipped up Jessy's (of Happy Vegan Face) Malai Kofta:

I'd never had malai kofta before, but when I saw the dish on Jessy's blog, I knew I had to try it. They're little fried potato and green pea balls topped with an amazing tomato-based gravy. I added some cayenne to the gravy for extra kick.

This is a delicious whole wheat flatbread stuffed with Indian-spiced onions (everything is better with filling!). I rarely make my own breads because it seems so time-consuming. And I'm not gonna lie. This whole meal took forever to make (and that's after I prepped the kofta balls and onion filling last night). But it was so worth it. And now I have a ton of leftovers to enjoy all week long!!!

Hey testers! The new recipes are up on the tester site ... just so ya know.

hooray, Bianca! we're so superexcitedfaced that you really enjoyed both the malai kofta & the onion paranthas! :) that rocks so hard that you made your own bread, too! and i'm with you - anything filled with yummies = the best!

that's really cool that some seriously tasty indian yummies were your start into vegetarianism! and i'm totally jealousfaced that you've got an all-veg indian buffet! i can only dream of how awesome that would be... yeah, that'd be pretty much the best thing ever!

your photos are glorious, Bianca! oh man, now i need to make some more indian yummies so i can dig in, too! mmmmmmm!

I miss you Bianca. You're the reason I went Vegan and your blog has given me endless recipes. I appreciate it. I mentioned you in my newest post because you're just that awesome. I'll have to try this recipe. You rock

Holy Ganesha! I freakin love Indian food and really think a special trip to Memphis might be in order! I have been eating a ton of raw lately, and made raw veg saag last night...but this is calling me...(was drawn to your blog with the word "Indian") Thanks!!!!

can you belivev that i had indian food for the first time two weeks ago!!! since then ive been craving it (ive gotten one other time since) its so amazing yummmm... and the place I go to makes sure there is no dairy in it.. they even make me dairy free naan... horray!!

My name is Bianca ...

About Me

I'm a 9-year vegan, 19-year vegetarian from the Mid-South, not too far from the muddy banks of the Mississippi River. And that means cornbread, butter beans, and collard greens.
These days, I live in Memphis. Check out my cookbook — Cookin' Crunk. It's filled with yummilicious veganized soul food and country classics.